Gas-manufacturing apparatus



(No Model.)

B. D. WIRT. GAS MANUFACTURING APPARATUS.

No. 544,151. Patented Aug. 6, 1895.

vnaunrd dz) T REL- 00 K UNITED STATES I PATENT ()FFICE.

' REUBEN D. WIR'ROF INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI.

GAS-MANUFACTU RING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Fatent No. 544,151, dated August 6, 1895. Application filed November 1'7, 1894:- Serial No. 529,112. (No model.)

To aZZ whom iv may concern.-

Be it known that I, REUBEN D. WIRT, of Independence, Jackson county, l\fissouri,have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Gas-Manufacturing Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to gas-manufacturing apparatus,and more particularly to an apparatus for producing either a water or fuel gas or an illuminating gas, or a mixed gas composed of both fuel and illuminating gas.

All the plants for manufacturing gas now in use in small towns, as far as my knowledge extends, produce about five thousand cubic feet of gas per hour. As towns of small size, containing, say, a few thousand inhabitants, use only from five thousand to fifteen thousand feet of gas per day, it is manifest that after running for two or three hours the manufacture of gas for the daymust cease and the furnace-fire be extinguished or permitted to die out, as keeping up the fire would be an unnecessary expense of fuel and labor. It is also manifest that the rebuilding of the fur nace-fire each dayis a very expensive operation, all things considered. My object is to obviate this unnecessary expense of fuel and labor, and that I accomplish this object will be apparent from the following description.

The features ofnovelty in my apparatus are pointed out in the appended claim.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a front elevation of a gas-manufacturing apparatus embodying my inventiomand Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudi nal section of the same.

In the said drawings, 1 designates the gas generating furnace, which is provided with a chamber divided by a grate 2 into a generating-chamber 3 and an ash-pit 4. Openings 5 and 6 in the front wall of the furnace communicate with the generating-chamber and are controlled by the doors 7, of the ordinary or any preferred construction. A similar door closes the opening 8 communicating with bers 12.

by the door 7, of any suitable construction.

other suitable material, bridges the space horizontally between the front wall of the furnace and the upper end of the bridge-wall 10. A similar wall 11 is disposed about centrally between the wall 10 and. the'rear wall of the furnace, so as to form the fixing-chambers 12 and 13, in which is arranged in the usual manner brick checker-work or other mass of refractory material. The upper end of the chamber 13 communicates with the vertical fine or chimney 14, which is closed at its upper end by a weighted lid 15, and projecting from said lid is a handle 16, by which it is opened when necessary. Extending longitudinally of the furnace and resting upon the shield 9, the bridge-wall 10, and the bridgewall 11,- and also projecting at its rear end over the fixing-chamber 13 and at its front end through the front wall of the furnace, is a retort 17, and this retort 17 is inclosed at its upper side by an arch 18, so as to form the intervening space 19, which communicates with the chambers 3 and 12, so that the products of combustion and the products of decomposition, as hereinafter referred to, will pass circumferentially and spirally around said retort from the chamber 3 to the cham- The.front end of the retort is closed To afford communication between the chambers 12 and 13, the partition 11 is provided with a series of passages 20 near its lower end. Mounted upon the furnace at any suitable point, is a water-seal 21, and connecting said water'seal with the flue or chimney 14 is a pipe 22. A pipe 23 also connects the retort 17 with said water-seal, and is provided with an opening to give access to the interior of the pipe to remove stoppages, &c. A cap 24. normally closes said opening. A pipe 25 communicates with the water-sealat one end and is connected to a holder (not shown) at its opposite end. Communicating with the ash-pit below the grate is the end of an air-blast pipe 26, and communicating also with said chamber are the ends of the steam-pipes 27, and communicating with the chamber 3 above the fuel is a pipe 28, which serves for the introduction within the said chamber of a liquid hydrocarbon, or an oil-supply pipe may communicate with the fixing-chambers.

Before proceeding further it is to be noted that I have produced what I term a lowdown furnacethat is, a furnace which is only one story high--so that the retort 17 is within convenient reach of a person upon the ground, and at the same time the fixingchambers are of sufficient length to properly decompose the constituents employed and form a fixed or permanent gas. It will also be noticed that by-this arrangement a more extended heating-surface upon the retort is obtained and requires no special furnaceblocks in its construction.

As it is practically impossible to manufacture what isknown as water-gas with abituminous coal, as the smoke and soot would soon choke up or close the checkerwork fixing-chambers, and as it is altogether too expensive in the Western States to employ hard coal I employ one or more retorts 17, wherein I continuously distill bituminous coal in the ordinary form used in coal-gas works and employ the resultant coke in the furnace.

In operation I first place within the retorts 17 a suitable quantity of bituminous coal and then build a fire upon the grate. I then raise the weighted lid and open the valve (not shown) controlling the air-blast to allow a the same to pass up through the burning fuel, around 'the retort, down through the chamber 12, up through the chamber 13, and out of the flue or chimney 14 at its upper end. This blast is kept up until the checkerwork of refractory material within the fixingchambers is heated to iucandescence. This hot blast blowing upon the retortthroughout nearly its entire length also begins the distillation of the coal therein, and the coal-gas thus formed, which possesses illuminating power in a high degree, escapes through the pipe 23 and enters the water-seal. I then out 01f the blast and close the lid 15, which is weighted, so that it is air-tight and cannot he accidentally opened, and open the valves (not shown) to permit the steam to enter the ash-pit 4 and pass up through the chamber 3, where, owing to the intense heat radiating from the incandescent carbon, it begins to decompose and passes spirally around the retort 17, where the distillation operation of the coal within the retort continues, and thence passing down and up through the highlyheated refractory material of the chambers 12 and 13, is thoroughly decomposed and transformed into a fixed "or permanent water-gas, which passes up through the flue or chimney l4 and through the pipe 22 into the water-seal 21, where it mixes with the coal-gas from the retort. The purified gas, possessing in a high degree illuminating and heating power, then proceeds to the holder by way of the pipe 25. If it is desired to form a hydrocarbon gas possessin both illuminating and heating power, the valve (not shown) is properly operated to permit liquid hydrocarbon in sufficient quantities to enter the generatingchamber 3 above the grate, where it is vaporized and passes with the water-gas around the retort and into the fixing-chambers, where it is thoroughly and effectually decomposed and emerges as a fixed or permanent carbureted hydrogen gas.

In the manufacture of gas, as the coal becomes coked in the retort and as the fire must be replenished with fuel, the door 7 of the retort is opened and the coke extracted and fed into the furnace. It is manifest, therefore, that after the first retort full of coal is distilled, if properly attended to, it will never be necessary to burn a second quantity of bituminous coal in the generating-chamber, because the coke will be employed for that purpose. It is also manifest that with a furnace of this character in a small town the apparatus will be run at less than its capacity, and the gas generated slowly with comparatively a small quantity of fuel. In fact it is my intention to occupy a whole day in generating the proper supply of gas, and then at night charge the retort to its fullest extent with coal, which, by reason of the incandescent material and the heat and what fire there is upon the grate, will be distilled by morning and reduced to coke at a white heat, which will be transferred to the generating-chamber to begin the new days work.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced an apparatus for manufacturing gas which is comparatively simple and cheap of construction, which. can be operated at small cost, and wherein nearly the entire surface of the retort is exposed to the action of the products of combustion and of the products of decomposition, so that the coal within said retort will be thoroughly and quickly coked.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A gas-furnace, provided with a bridge-wall and a partition-wall, to form conjointly with each other and with the front and rear walls of the furnace the generating-chamber and the parallel fixing-chambers, which communicate with each other through said partitionwall near its lower end, and provided also with a flue or chimney communicating with i the upper end of the rearmost of said fixingchambers, an arch above the bridge-wall and above the foremost of said fixing-chambers and said generating-chamber, retorts for the distillation of coal extending longitudinally of the furnace, and suitably supported over the said generating and fixing-chambers and below the arch, a water-seal, a pipe connecting the flue or chimney with the water-seal, a. end of said flue or chimney, substantially as to pipe connecting the coal-retort with the said water-seal, a pipe leading from said waterseal, steam and air-blast pipes communicating with the interior of the generating-chamber,

, a pipe connected to the supply of liquid hydro-carbon communicating with said generating-chamber, a shield protecting the coalretort, and a weighted valve closing the upper set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature inthe presence of two witnesses.

REUBEN D. WIRT. Witnesses:

G. Y. THORPE,

M. R. REMLEY. 

